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Drug Possession in Michigan – Keeping it off your Record with 7411

Home Blog Criminal Cases Drug Possession in Michigan – Keeping it off your Record with 7411

The Judge, at Sentencing, then tells the person how long they will serve on Probation, and further advise them that if they complete that period of Probation without any problems, the whole case will be dismissed and there will be no Public Record of it. The exact terms and length of any particular Probation are up to the Judge, and, depending on the charge, can range from non-reporting Probation to Monthly reporting Probation with frequent Drug and Alcohol testing.

At the end of the Probationary term, the Court may simply “run” a person’s record to make sure they haven’t been picked up for any new charges, and dismiss the case, or the Court can require the person to appear, in person, at a Review Hearing. If the person has not had any trouble, the Court will fulfill it’s promise and dismiss the whole case. If, on the other hand, the person “Violates” that probation (see my Web Page on Probation Violations, as well as my Blog Post on Probation Violations – Staying out of Jail for a more detailed explanation), the person will have to appear in Court. The Judge may (and very likely will), in addition to anything else, take the plea out of his or her desk drawer and send it in to the State Police so that it winds up on the person’s Criminal Record.

There are other methods for keeping a conviction off of a person’s record. One of those, discussed in another Blog Post is known as HYTA, applies to crimes that occur between a person’s 17th and 21st birthdays. There are also arrangements which, unlike a “7411,” require a conviction to first be placed upon a person’s record, and after a Probationary term, to be removed, or, as many people put it, to “come off.” I’ll likewise examine those arrangements in future posts of this Blog.

So, in review, we have seen that the most common method to keep a Drug Possession Charge off a person’s record is the section “7411.” To be eligible, a person must have no prior Drug Crimes on their record. Under the terms of a “7411,” the whole case is more or less “shelved” while the person serves out a Probationary period, which may or may not include reporting and/or testing. At the end of the period specified by the Judge, if the person has successfully completed the Probationary term without any problems (i.e., new arrests or positive drug tests), then the whole case is dismissed and never shows up on their record.